


Christmas Light Tangle

by seasalticecream32



Series: Merlin Christmas 2015 [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Decorations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 11:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5332688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasalticecream32/pseuds/seasalticecream32
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin mentions that he wants to do decorations before leaving for a weekend with Freya. Arthur fights with Christmas lights.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Light Tangle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this story. Please comment! My tumblr is captainmerlin32, if you want to chat or make requests! :D

Arthur grumbled on the floor. Of course Merlin wanted to decorate the house. He couldn’t have wanted to do any of the things that Arthur actually knew how to do. Like throw a Christmas party or go shopping for presents. No. He wanted to decorate the outside of the house with blinking lights. And he’d made sure to tell Arthur of his beautiful vision right before he’d left to go see Freya for the weekend.

  
Arthur squinted at the string of lights in his hands. This was a battle and he was going to win it. 

He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. It’s not like he was trying to impress anyone or anything. He’d just figured he’d get it done so Merlin wouldn’t hurt himself trying to climb the ladder to get to the roof. Which was totally something Merlin would do, he was ridiculous with his big goofy ears and clumsy feet.

Arthur grumbled some more as he somehow managed to make more tangles in the wires instead of less. This was absolutely his least thought out plan ever.

He frowned and dropped the lights back into the box they came from. That was a useless attempt. He glared back at the clock and then at his phone. “No one is ever going to know.”

He picked it up, hit his speed dial, and waited for it to ring. He heard the click of someone answer, and spoke quickly before his stubbornness got the best of him. “Elyan, I need your help.”

“Be right over man. You know Merlin’d be impressed with some stuff tossed around the trees and an inflatable snowman, right?”

“Just get over here, please.” Arthur rolled his eyes. His ex knew him too well, and Merlin even better. It was honestly not fair. “And don’t tell Merlin, I don’t want him thinking I did this for him.”

“But you are doing it for him.”

“And bring some more Christmas lights, mine are useless.” Arthur growled, then sighed. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Elyan chuckled and hung up, leaving Arthur to try to round up the other decorations. He only had one night left now. He’d have to get the inflatable snowman and the Santa for the roof. The box with the sled would be incredibly heavy... He was sure he could get it up the ladder before Elyan arrived.

Which was how he’d ended up stuck on the ladder, braced with the box holding the sled at an awkward angle about crash to the ground when Elyan showed up. He glowered at him when he laughed. 

“Do you always do things this stubborn or...?” Elyan asked, lifting his arms to catch the box as it finished sliding down. He grunted under the force of it, but managed to get it down to the ground without it crashing. “I brought some help.”

“Please tell me you didn’t--” But before Arthur could finish the sentence, Gwaine popped up behind him. “I mean, you could have warned me you were bringing Gwaine.”

“Where’s your phone? I text you like, four times.” Elyan shook his head and waved Gwaine over. “Besides, he does this stuff all the time with Lancelot. That’s how they’re paying for Christmas presents.”

“Yeah! You don’t think a group this big is easy to buy for do you? You guys cost me an arm and a leg each year.” Gwaine winked up at Arthur, standing at the bottom of the ladder. “Probably should get the lights up before you start putting together a giant Santa though.”

“He wanted to be able to tell Merlin he did it himself.” Elyan jabbed, cutting his eyes at Arthur. “He probably has been fighting with the lights all weekend.”

“Shut up.” Arthur was red as a cherry as he shimmied down the ladder. “You know, you can both stop talking and get to work then. I’ve got to get this done before tomorrow night.”

“Ah, it won’t take too long, mate. Just need those lights and a good old staple gun.” Gwaine waved the staple gun around and gestured towards the truck Elyan had drove them over in. “If you wouldn’t mind, babe. I left the lights in the back.”

Elyan nodded and jogged back to the truck. Arthur scowled at Gwaine, who was ignoring him as he climbed onto the roof. 

“What do I do?” He asked. Gwaine looked down at him and grinned.

“Well, Princess, I need you to hand me up the lights. Make sure they don’t get tangled.

Putting up the lights took three hours of Arthur handing up lights from various positions on the roof while Gwaine stapled them down and played with the staple gun. By the time they were done, it was too dark to put the sleigh together on the roof, and Arthur didn’t think it would look as good in the yard. He’d argued with Gwaine about it until Elyan had grabbed Gwaine’s hand and dragged him home, promising to return the next day to help with the rest.

Arthur, in a fit of frustration, spent the rest of the night putting together the Santa and the sleigh and assembling the many different deer (who on earth thought having so many was a good idea?) By the time he’d finished, and managed to get the snowman started inflating, it was three in the morning and he was entirely done with Christmas. Merlin could just do without next year, he’d never do this again.

Arthur fell asleep in the living room, watching the lights reflect off the snow from his couch. His bedroom was too quiet and cold for sleeping anyway. 

The next morning, Gwaine and Elyan were late, and from Gwaine’s lazy grin and kiss-bruised lips, Arthur was pretty sure they hadn’t got hung up in traffic. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “You know, you could have made out after you show up. You’re late. What if Merlin get’s home early?”

“Thought you weren’t trying to impress Merlin?”

Arthur squinted and glared at them, but stomped out to the yard anyway. His fully assembled Santa, sleigh, and deer looked far more intimidating in the daylight and without the fuel of irritation and sleeplessness. He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. Gwaine and Elyan exchanged looks, and then Gwaine began to climb the ladder.

“Well, one of us is going to have to hand up each piece to the other two. Probably start with the heavy ones first.”

They managed to only drop the Santa once (Elyan swore that glue would fix his hat) and the sleigh went up easily after that. Gwaine insisted it was because of his pulley idea, but Arthur thought a lot of it had to do with his muscling it up there and catching the rope before it fell. Elyan thought they were both idiots, and arranged the whole ensemble while Gwaine and Arthur squabbled. 

Arthur fed them pizza and coke and shoved them out the door less than an hour before Merlin was supposed to show up, and went to work on cleaning up the rest of the house and making it look like he hadn’t slept on the couch the entire time Merlin had been gone.

He’d just popped a pre-cooked chicken into the oven to heat, and grabbed the rice and veggies from the microwave steamable bag, when he saw headlights light up the driveway. 

He waited ten minutes before he began to tap his feet, his fingers drumming against the kitchen counter. And it was another five minutes before he kicked away from the cabinet and headed out the door, mumbling all the way past the patio.

He stopped when he saw Merlin staring up at the roof, the white lights twinkling in his eyes. He was grinning like a fool, bag still clutched in his arm and scarf askew. Arthur cleared his throat and Merlin grinned even wider when he caught Arthur’s grumpy expression.

“Sorry, I was just caught by how amazing it looks. Like a Christmas story.”

“You said you wanted decorations. I figured I’d get it taken care of before you got home.” Arthur’s ears felt hot, and he shifted on his feet. “I guess Gwaine and Elyan helped a bit.”

“Thank you. It looks magical.” Merlin stepped forward and planted a kiss on Arthur’s nose. “I’m exhausted. What’s for dinner?”

“Chicken and rice. I was going to make your favorite, but I ran out of time.”

Merlin shrugged and dropped his bag to give Arthur a hug. “I missed you, you know. This was an amazing surprise to come home to.”

Arthur breathed in the fresh pine and campfire scent of Merlin’s skin and felt a bit of the irritation of the weekend ebb away. He pulled back and shared Merlin’s smile. “It doesn’t look nearly as magical as you.”

“You are the corniest sap I’ve ever met, you know.” Merlin chuckled, closing his eyes as Arthur leaned in to kiss him.

“Yeah, I know.” Arthur murmured against his lips, Merlin’s cold nose bumping against his. “You love it though.”

“I’m glad to be home.” Merlin hummed against him.

And even standing in the snow, with a Santa who was missing half his hat above them and blinking Christmas lights, Arthur knew it was going to be a good Christmas, because Merlin was home and that’s all he needed.


End file.
